Lakers Wake Up Just in Time : Pro basketball: After slow start, they shoot 70.6% in the fourth quarter to rally past Atlanta, 92-87.

For three quarters, the Lakers weren’t worth a nickel, shooting 34.8% while committing 13 turnovers against 16 assists and thankful, a day late, to be playing the Atlanta Hawks. So how could the fourth quarter be money in the bank?

Maybe because it has already been so many times this season. Friday night, they found the life preserver again, recovering from a sluggish showing to shoot 70.6% those final 12 minutes and put together a 19-7 run over the last 6:26 and beat the Hawks, 92-87, before 14,239 at the Omni.

“It means we are an excellent team,” said Vlade Divac, who had a season-high 16 rebounds along with 15 points. “Even if we don’t play well, we still win the game. It gives us a lot of confidence.”

An excellent team? No. A good-enough team? Yes.

Good enough to improve to 6-5.

Good enough to win for the fourth time in five games and the third time in a row.

Good enough to win when leading scorer Cedric Ceballos got only 29 minutes and eight shots, two of which were baskets that helped spark the 10-0 rally that turned the tide.

“This is the kind of win that can help bring a team together,” Coach Del Harris said. “It was the kind of night in which not a whole lot was going well. We weren’t getting the ball to go in the basket. We just weren’t real alert the first three quarters. Loose balls eluded us and we were breaking down. Then in the fourth quarter, we got a spark.”

Anthony Peeler made another cameo and scored six points in 85 seconds late in the third quarter to help keep the Lakers close. Antonio Harvey made his second consecutive strong showing, following up the 16 points and six rebounds Wednesday against Dallas at the Forum with 13 and five, respectively. Ultimately, though, their stars came out.

It began as the Hawks (4-8) held an 80-73 advantage. Divac tipped in Harvey’s miss with 6:26 to go, and when Ceballos made two baskets in a row the Lakers were down only a point. Nick Van Exel hit a short bank from the right side, then, after Steve Smith missed a jumper for Atlanta, grabbed the loose ball and delivered a long lead pass that Tony Smith turned into a fast-break layup.

The 10-0 surge put the Lakers ahead, 83-80. When Van Exel hit a three-pointer on their next possession, the cushion was suddenly four, 86-82, with 3 1/2 minutes left. Another drive by Ceballos, this one culminated as he flipped the ball up while slicing across the lane, was worth an 88-84 lead and provided the winning points with 3:02 remaining.

“They gave me the ball in the fourth quarter,” said Ceballos, who finished with 12 points. “That was the key.”

He wasn’t kidding.

“Nobody on the Atlanta Hawks can guard me,” he said. “It was just the point of getting me the ball and letting me play. Two minutes and come out. Two minutes and come out. That’s tough.”

The final minute wasn’t much easier for the Lakers, not while watching the Hawks scrape for offensive rebounds and more scoring chances, futile as those were while making four of 16 shots in the fourth quarter. Atlanta had four shots on one possession, three of which were three-pointers by Mookie Blaylock, then came back the next time downcourt with two more from behind the three-point line, the last with about 12 seconds to go. None went in.

“Each time the ball would go up in the air, I’d see 50 fingers scratching for the ball,” Harris said. “And we never came down with one. Finally, we got one.”

That and a victory.

Laker Notes

Elden Campbell was back in the starting lineup at power forward after missing the previous game to attend an uncle’s funeral, but with the game on the line Antonio Harvey got all the time there. Harvey played 33 minutes to Campbell’s 25. “He keeps our other big people honest,” Coach Del Harris said. “Our other big people, as good Laker fans know, have a tendency to relax. When I see that happen, I figure a good place to relax is on the bench. I feel Antonio can give us some zip.” Said Harvey, when asked about not starting but playing in crunch time: “What it says is that he feels like I’m playing well right now. That’s enough for me.” . . . Atlanta’s Mookie Blaylock led all scorers with 18 points, but made only seven of 21 shots, including two of 13 three-pointers. The other starting guard, Steve Smith, was five of 14.

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